1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electronic circuit assembling and testing systems; and, more particularly, to a system for assembling and testing electronic circuits for applications that involve design verification, concept demonstration, product prototyping or teaching and training, wherein the electronic components and the components of the assembling system themselves are reusable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In industries, institutions and schools, there exists a need for quickly assembling and testing electronic circuits using commercially available discrete electronic components. Such assembly and testing is oftentimes carried out for circuit design and design verification, concept demonstration, product prototyping, or teaching and training. In these circumstances, it is highly desirable that not only the individual electronic components but also the system used for the assembling and testing are reusable. It is also highly desirable that the assembling and testing system is suitable for even unskilled hands, such as students in colleges or high schools. However, at the present time, all current assembling and testing methods of choices, such as printed circuit board, perfboard (stripboard), breadboard (plugboard) and the like, possess this or other disadvantages. For example, when using the printed circuit board or perfboard to assemble a circuit, each electronic component must be soldered onto the board. As such, the electronic components and boards are hardly reusable. Furthermore, the need for soldering equipment and special lab setup limits the usefulness of printed circuit boards or perfboards, particularly in educational settings. Although breadboards are solderless, every type of breadboard has a particular contact layout that must be followed strictly in order to make the right connections; this contact layout requirement significantly restricts the flexibility and usefulness of breadboards, particularly to unskilled users. Even skillful professionals frequently find themselves struggling with the contact layout requirements imposed by breadboards when assembling, making simple modifications, or debugging slightly complicated circuits.
There remains a need in the art for an electronic circuit assembling and testing system that (i) is solderless; (ii) is easy to use and facilitates modifications even by unskilled users. Also needed is an electronic circuit assembling and testing system wherein virtually any used components, including the components of the assembling system, are reusable. In addition, it would be highly desirable if the final layout of an assembled circuit resembles the desired circuit diagram such that it could be easily traced by a user during the assembling, modification and debugging procedures.